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Staying busy crucial to surviving 24 hours of darkness in Alert

CFS ALERT, NUNAVUT—Capt. Sylvie Landry packed balls of wool for a crochet project and textbooks for her post-grad studies. Aviator Alain Fortier came stocked with a supply of movies and a desire to study French. Chief Petty Officer 2nd Class Dan Williams came with plans to hit the gym.

Get assigned to spend weeks, even months, based near the North Pole and you make plans to fill your downtime.

The three were among the latest military personnel shuttled into Canadian Forces Station Alert, the isolated military outpost on the northern tip of Ellesmere Island.

Survive the hardships here for 180 days and the military will give you a Special Service Medal.

“I don’t like the cold but I know once I’m there I will have a good time,” said Williams, who arrived in late January for a three-month tour, his second visit to the station.

Indeed, the arriving personnel get a hero’s welcome as they enter through a double set of beefy fridge locker doors that mark the station’s entrance — constructed to keep the harsh environment at bay.

It’s a “plane day” tradition to have station personnel gather to greet newcomers with friendly applause. Likewise, departing personnel are given a rousing send-off as they depart the outpost to return south.

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Landry will be at the station for six weeks, working in administration. Getting to the northern outpost has been a long-time goal.

“I’m excited. When they said do you want to go, I said yes, Landry said. “It was on my bucket list. I love snow.”

She brought some adult colouring books, school work — she’s studying for a master’s degree in human resources — and balls of wool for crocheting a blanket for a pregnant friend.

“It’s a way to explore the Arctic. I just feel like it’s an awesome, exciting adventure,” Fortier said, adding that he hopes his three-month term gets extended to six.

This remote outpost, which gathers signals and intelligence, is currently home to 79 personnel — 35 are from the military, four from Environment Canada, and the rest are civilian contractors who assist with maintaining the site.

With few outside distractions, especially during the long winter months when 24 hours of darkness settles on the station, the military puts an emphasis on keeping personnel occupied during their downtime.

If you’re into sewing, woodworking, photography or music, there is a club for you. There’s a small library, a well-stocked collection of DVDs and music CDs. Two bar messes offer pool tables, dart boards and the offer of alcohol drinks with a two-a-day limit. There’s a large gymnasium in an adjacent building. If bad weather keeps personnel inside, they can work out in the smaller “storm” gym that is part of the main complex. There’s even a tanning booth.

A common area known as the “Beach” offers coffee and couches to serve as a meeting point. “Igloo Gardens” is the dining hall.

There are nightly euchre and crib games, ball hockey and badminton contests. At Christmas, they had a Santa Claus parade down the main corridor and a mini-putt tournament through the offices.

Technology has also made life a little easier. Personnel now enjoy daily telephone and video chats with loved ones. Twenty years ago, they were restricted to a 15-minute call once week — only if the sometimes unreliable connections allowed.

The key to surviving a tour of duty here? Get involved, the veterans say.

“You have to participate in the activities. Otherwise it would be a very long, lonely tour,” Williams said in an interview.

The warning on the medical questionnaire required of all visitors pointedly warns of the mental health hazards. Conditions such as depression and anxiety that are well controlled at home “can deteriorate quickly in the isolated conditions of the high Arctic,” especially so during the winter when there is 24 hours of darkness.

It’s no wonder many personnel at the station are keen to see Feb. 28.

While certain to be a day like any other for most Canadians, for the hardy band who call this northern outpost home, it’s a day that heralds the keenly anticipated return of the sun.

The sun’s appearance that day at 10:41 a.m. will be brief – just 20 minutes above the horizon – but for those who have endured the 24 hour darkness of the Arctic winter, it’s cause for celebration.

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